Target Practice
by Sango-sama
Summary: A side story to Love Potion No. 9 ¾. Ron spends a bit of quality time with Viktor, after the events in chapter 7 of Love Potion No. 9 3/4.


1 Target Practice  
  
2 A side story to Love Potion No. 9 ¾  
  
2.1 Sango-sama  
  
A/N: This is written as a Christmas gift to my sister Jen and to the faithful readers of Love Potion No. 9 3/4. The first part fits in with Love Potion earlier on in the evening after the events dealing with the letter (Chapter 7) but before Ron falls asleep. This basically can stand alone, but you'd have to read the story to understand why Ron acts as he does. As always, reviews are appreciated and criticisms are reviewed to better my writing. Reviews on here will count to the final total for finding what Dear Ickle Ronniekins did say.  
  
Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter, Love Potion No. 9, or a Viktor Krum "Action Figure". Now go read the story.  
  
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'I do hope Henry's all right.' Biting her lip, Ginny was hidden behind a large flowing blue tapestry on the boys' side of the Gryffindor dormitory.  
  
A few weeks before, Crookshanks brought the tiny snow white mouse, which had been hiding in a small hole near the fireplace, to Hermione when she and Ginny had been sitting down in the common room. It was shaking like a leaf, but was not hurt at all, much to both of their relief.  
  
Hermione, having seen how Ginny fawned over the tiny animal, gave the mouse to Ginny to keep safe. "I certainly can't keep it," Hermione reasoned, nodding her head sagely. "Crookshanks may not have hurt him now, but he still might try to eat him later."  
  
Henry was kind enough to keep still so they could test the potion out before giving it to Harry. Ginny was a bit nervous about testing on Henry, but she was dead set against giving Harry anything without trying it out first.  
  
Much to both Ginny and Hermione's relief, Henry was just fine, if not a bit more energetic than he had been before.  
  
But now Fred and George had borrowed Henry to use as a guinea pig for one of their new joke items, experimenting on the poor animal in the top of the South Tower. They had been telling her all sorts of horrible things that had been doing to him in the Common Room after dinner, and now her stomach was all knots.  
  
She still wasn't sure if they had been joking or not. So, now Ginny was carefully sneaking her way up the winding stairs, carefully peering up and down the stairs to see that she wasn't being followed. She held her body close to the wall and carrying her shoes in hand so no one could hear the clack of her heels of her dress shoes on the stone steps. She was just approaching the halfway point when Neville came barreling out of the fifth year boys' dorm.  
  
Ginny backtracked down the stairs, barely hiding herself behind the heavy blue velvet tapestry before Neville came whizzing past, nearly tripping over his own feet. The bottom of the fabric was still billowing out, but he seemed not to have noticed. Her heartbeat was still thumping loudly in her ears; it took nearly all she had to not bring her hand up to her chest to quiet the noise. Her lips were pressed together nervously as she held her breath, shivering as her back pressed firmly against the cold stone wall.  
  
The thumping footsteps echoed down the spiral staircase, growing ever more quiet until Ginny could no longer hear them.  
  
Within a few minutes she caught her breath and her heartbeat slowed back to normal; she continued upwards.  
  
"Infligo Inflixi Inflictum!" A voice thundered, as a loud roar spilled into the corridor.  
  
"Bloody Hell!" she hissed, throwing herself to the wall beside a suit of armor as an angry gust of wind whistled back down the stairs, masking the sound of her voice.  
  
As the wind quieted, the suit of armor turned it head towards Ginny.  
  
There was no way she could be certain, but Ginny imagined a question glare of the knight's face.  
  
Her eyes imploring, she brought a finger up to cover her lips.  
  
The metal mask turned back around to the front just as it had before she arrived.  
  
"Thank you," she whispered, a smile turning her lips.  
  
She stole a glance around the suit of armor into the main hall of the tower.  
  
A figure was slumped against the wall sneering at a small scarlet object that zoomed through the air before his eyes.  
  
The tower was poorly lit and the sun was setting behind the hills quickly, but the way the last stray columns of light bounced off the mix of deep auburn and vermilion made it easy for Ginny to tell that it was Ron standing before her.  
  
"Infligo Inflixi Inflictum!" Hot sparks sprang from his wand, streaking through the air until they narrowly missed the small, dark object suspended in the air.  
  
Ron scowled. The tiny figure seemed to chuckle before tearing high into the air and making a grand circle around the ceiling.  
  
Ron quickly took aim, knocking the small figure out of the sky. It's arm flew off in the other direction, still quite alive and flailing around on the floor.  
  
2.2 "Violamus Virga!"  
  
A muffled, low-pitched shout came from the remaining body of the tiny figure, as it dropped to the floor. The broom it had been riding had turned on it and was now tapping it on the head.  
  
Ron started to smile, his eyes glinting mischievously, waving the snitch- catching arm at his victim. "Sorry, old chap. That's just how it goes."  
  
The tiny figure looked up at him morosely, watching him whistle as he walked out of the tower. The broom smacked against his head again.  
  
Once the coast was clear, Ginny walked in and sat beside the makeshift cage, sighing in relief. Aside from being a brilliant shade of neon pink, Henry didn't appear to be too scarred. Her fingers lightly scratched his head and she gave him a few seeds and bits of cheese she had spared from her supper.  
  
Gathering Henry and his water bowl, she started back towards the stairs.  
  
The miniature figure of Viktor Krum stared up at her frowning. His tiny, but surprisingly still feral looking eyebrows scrunching up his face. The broom smacked him again, sending his other arm flying.  
  
She sighed. "Finite Incantatem."  
  
The broom tapped against the floor.  
  
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"Hermione. Hermione!"  
  
Her shoulder was being shaken rather forcefully, but Hermione turned over on her other side.  
  
Ginny stood upright, placing her hands on her hips. "Honestly, Hermione, you're as bad as Ron."  
  
"No, I'm not," she mumbled sleepily, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. She sat up slowly, stifling a rather large yawn.  
  
"I have a surprise for you."  
  
"Oh?" Hermione looked up, her eyes still half-lidded.  
  
Ginny pulled the figure from behind her back.  
  
Hermione's jaw dropped. "Ginny!" she gasped. "That's morbid!"  
  
"Isn't it?" Ginny replied. "I found it up in the tower after Ron had left."  
  
"He did that?" Hermione nearly squeaked. Her jaw still hung loosely. She looked back at the figure, which sat sulking at her bedside table. "But." her face turned up at Ginny's, "how is it that you were in the same Tower?"  
  
Her face went ruby red. "I had to sneak up there. Fred and George had taken Henry up there and I couldn't very well leave him there." She straightened up. "Besides, Ron was looking quite smug when he left. The prat seemed pretty happy to have beaten up a toy."  
  
Hermione was frowning, but her stomach was filled with butterflies. 'Had he done that all because of the package?'  
  
"I suppose jealousy makes you do strange things." Ginny was wearing an ill- concealed smile. "Well.either that or Bulgaria played a surprise match against the Cannons and beat the tar out of them."  
  
Hermione grinned widely. "And who can't?"  
  
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My Latin certainly leaves something to be desired, so if you have a better idea for the magic words, please leave any suggestions in a review 


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